Voices oftwo anonymous women claim that the bill would cost the average Wisconsin family more than a thousand dollars per yearand lead to job losses, as well as high electricity rates and gas prices.
But thatclaim is based on an already debunked study by the Wisconsin Policy ResearchInstitute (WPRI), largely funded by the ultraconservative Bradley Foundation,and the Beacon Hill Institute, a free-market think tank that accepted more than$50,000 from the Bradley Foundation in 2007 to develop a “tax model” for Wisconsin. (Yes, that isthe same Wisconsin Policy Research Institute that was exposed in last week’s Shepherd Express for cooking their resultsto make their conservative board members happy.)
These tworight-wing think tanks produced a report in November that purported tocalculate the costs of recommendations of the Governor’s Task Force on GlobalWarming. That report alleged that the impacts of all of the task force’srecommendations would lead to roughly 50,000 job losses in the state over thenext decade and cost the average Wisconsinresident more than $1,000.
But don’tbelieve it.
“AComplete Fabrication”
Thad Nation,executive director of the business alliance Clean, Responsible Energy for Wisconsin’s Economy(CREWE), which supports the bill, called the claims in the WMC ad “a completefabrication” because it’s based on WPRI’s bogus study that analyzes the costsof all 13 task force recommendationseven though eight of the 13 are notincluded in the legislation.
“The [WPRI]study is not based on what’s actually included in the Clean Energy Jobs Act,”asserts a CREWE fact sheet.
Here arejust a few errors:
- The WPRI studyincludes the cost of a cap and trade system. But the legislation doesn’trecommend a cap and trade system. That throws the study’s overall costestimates into doubt.
- The WPRI study madea number of incorrect assumptions. For example, it assumed that 30% of thestate’s energy sources would have to come from renewable sources by 2025,rather than the actual figure of 25%.
- The WPRI studydoesn’t include the many economic benefits of the legislation.
For example,state Rep. Spencer Black, who helped to author the bill, argues that $20billion leaves Wisconsineach year to purchase fuel from other states and countries. Redirecting thatmoney toward clean energy sources in Wisconsinfor example, solar or windpowerwill increase the state’s tax base and jobs while reducing greenhouse gasemissions.
What’s more,Neal Verfuerth, founder and CEO of Orion Energy Systems Inc. in Manitowoc, wrote in aneditorial that up to 1.4 million person-hours of work would be spent onprojects like installing the Apollo Solar Light Pipe, one of Orion’s cleanenergy products that would be fast-tracked under the legislation. In additionto supporting jobs, the pipe would drastically reduce the demand forelectricity from dirty fossil fuel sources like coal. So it’s a win-win for a Wisconsin manufacturer, its workers and the environment.
Who’sthe Voice of Wisconsin Businesses?
The radio adstates that it’s paid for by WMC Issues Mobilization Council Inc. (WMC INC), anissue advocacy group that does not have to disclose its donations or expenditures.Corporations may contribute to the fund, and there are no contribution limits.
Previously,WMC INC promoted the 2008 candidacy of state Supreme Court Justice MichaelGableman, still under fire for his race-baiting campaign commercials andanti-defendant bias, and it fights against tax increases to support any kind ofimprovements in Wisconsin, no matter how necessary or beneficial to the averageWisconsin resident.
While WMCpurports to be “Wisconsin’s business voice,”not all Wisconsin companies agree with itsopposition to the Clean Energy Jobs Act. The bill’s supporters include WeEnergies and Alliant Energy, and household names such as MillerCoors, JohnsonControls and Poblocki Sign Co. The Global Warming Task Force includedrepresentatives from General Motors, SC Johnson, We Energies and JohnsonControls as well as consumer and environmental advocates.
